Tuesday, September 11, 2018

H-E-B tech innovation lab will Drive Digital Strategy & Delivery

Food
delivery continues to drive incremental sales in every segment of retail
foodservice today. At times that
delivery is a direct replacement for an in store visit according to Steven
Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®. That said food delivery edifies brand
relevance in the minds-eye of the consumer today and should be a tool in every
food marketing tool kit.

H-E-B understands that while food delivery hovers
around 6.2% within the grocery sector delivery of newspapers once the staple
grocery store marketing and messaging has less than 31 million household penetration rate. Grocery stores and
H-E-B understand digital marketing is the direct one on one relationship that
is replacing the newspaper.

So,
once again doing all the right things H-E-B plans to build a two-story,
81,000-square-foot technology facility and innovation lab for its digital team
and Favor on-demand delivery service. H-E-B will renovated an industrial
warehouse to be transformed into a “world-class” creative and collaborative
workspace for Austin-based members of the H-E-B digital team and Favor’s
corporate headquarters, according to the company.

H-E-B
Chief Digital Officer Jag Bath stated “This state-of-the-art space will be a
hub for creativity and innovation as we continue to develop the ultimate
digital experience for our customers,” …“Bringing H-E-B and Favor closer
together will allow us to promote collaboration between our two companies as we
strengthen our commitment to building out H-E-B’s omnichannel services,” noted
Bath, who also is president and chief executive officer of Favor.

Note:
In support of its efforts to become a digital leader in the grocery arena,
H-E-B acquired the Austin-based Favor delivery service in mid-February and then
two months later named Bath as chief digital officer of H-E-B.

Meanwhile,
H-E-B has steadily extended its online grocery reach via H-E-B Delivery and
H-E-B Curbside service, now offered at more than 145 stores in Texas and slated
to become available at 165 stores this year. Overall, the company operates 400
stores in Texas and Mexico. H-E-B is doing all of the right things.

Foodservice
Solutions®
specializes in outsourced business development. We can help you identify,
quantify and qualify additional food retail segment opportunities or a new menu
product segment and brand and menu integration strategy. Foodservice
Solutions®
of Tacoma WA is the global leader in
the Grocerant niche visit Facebook.com/Steven Johnson, Linkedin.com/in/grocerant/
or twitter.com/grocerant